2011 Novellum Chardonnay
Like last week's red "Wine of the Week", this Chardonnay is a candidate for my everyday house white wine. I never thought an affordable Chardonnay would make it to my dinner table everyday, till I tasted this one from France's Cotes Catalanes. Due to its three months ageing with Viognier lees, its aromas of honey and saline minerality are given an extra boost of peach with a floral note. What are lees? They are the expired yeast cells of the fermentation process. In this wine, those yeast cells were added to the ageing of the wine in stainless steel. Viognier is a very floral scented white wine, so the yeast cells added some extra aromas as well as helping to create a creamy texture. In the mouth this wine is light and crisp with a lot of lemon and citrus along with that saline minerality. The crisp acidity helps makes this a great food pairing wine, especially with shellfish.
John Syfor
john@federalwine.com
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